Last year, Dunston (Ship Repairs), one of Hull's traditional shipping firms, joined forces with Rix Shipping and created its third arm to the business – Dunston (Ship Building).

Now, this part of the company is on the road to success after securing its first refit work for the renewables sector.

The refit has come from one of Beverley-based Dalby Offshore Renewables' Alicat boats, which has been working off the Swedish coast.

Dave Clark, operations and technical director at Dunston said he was positive this part of the firm would become prosperous when it launched last spring.

He said: "We expected to see success when we launched this next part of the business because there is a massive amount of scope in the renewables sector.

"We just need the Siemens news to be positive and announced soon.

"We saw an opportunity that we could build these boats and repair them at the new ship builders."

Mr Clark said he is hopeful that, when the major renewables boom kicks in, there will be hundreds of ships coming in and out of the Humber, and business for Dunston will quickly pick up.

He said: "Hopefully, there will be a lot more work around.

"Our facilities at Paull will become an asset to all the companies running out of the Humber.

"This is just the start."

Dunston secured a deal for a £5.1m fleet of workboats to service offshore wind farms last year at its new site in Paull.

The link-up between Rix Shipping and Dunston (Ship Repairs) saw three new state-of-the-art aluminum vessels built at the Hepworths yard in Paull, which are now nearing completion.

The joint venture signalled another boost for the area's ambitions to become the main engine room for the developing renewable energy sector in the UK, as well as bringing together two of Hull's traditional shipping firms in a new joint venture.

The move also marked a return to shipbuilding for the Dunston group, which can trace its history in the industry back to 1858.

The company stopped building vessels in 1994, to concentrate on ship repairs at its base at William Wright Dock in Hull.

Mr Clark said: "We took the opportunity to go into this renewables sector and take the business forward."

Mr Clark said the business is now looking to invest in the Paull facility and expand it to allow them to make more boats there at one time.

Dunston (Ship Builders) has 14 members of staff but Mr Clark is confident the firm could increase this number if the business was to expand.

He said: "We would have to double to workforce, at least.

"It is quite a possibility.

"We think, if we get some positive news about Siemens, it will boost business for us.

"The opportunities will come to start building more boats to the service the wind farms."

Dunston, which employs about 110 people across the three businesses, is continuing to grow.

The group also employs about 12 apprentices. Mr Clark said: "That is a big part of taking the company forward.

"People retire and we need to take the company forward.

"They play an important role in the company.

"We need to pass on some of the skills our tradesmen have got.

Mr Clark said Rix and Dalby are both local companies heavily investing in wind farm support, to take advantage of the opportunities offered by the construction and on-going maintenance of offshore wind farms on the east coast.

Mr Clark said: "It is a very exciting time for Dunston and the future is looking quite rosy.

"The renewables sector is a new area we need to branch into. That's why we launched Dunston (Ship Building)."